Middle Ground
by Athena Alexandria
Summary: Late one night, Kate gets an unexpected visitor. Takes place after the flashforwards in Eggtown. Jate.


Here is the post-Eggtown one shot I mentioned last time, known to some as "Athena's Amazing Fic Of Jatey Awesomeness, Which Involves Jack In the Rain Looking Cute and Hopeful". It's complete wishful thinking, but I don't think anyone will mind. I'm just surprised no one else has written it! ;)

* * *

MIDDLE GROUND

A clap of thunder sounded outside, and Kate pulled the comforter closer around her, nudging the button on the remote to turn up the volume of the movie she was watching. It was after midnight but she couldn't sleep; instead, she found herself wishing that she hadn't told Aaron's nanny to take the night off so that she could spend some time alone with him. Then she would at least have another adult to keep her company.

Two days had passed since the end of her trial, but as much as she was enjoying her new, settled life, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Something important: the difference between genuine happiness and what was only contentment.

She was considering going up to check on Aaron in case the storm had disturbed him, and he was awake, when through a break in the rain, she heard the rap of something on wood, like a soft knock at the door. The clock on the VCR read 12:42pm: too late for visitors; sitting up, she muted the TV, straining her ears for the sound, surprised when it came again, louder and more forceful this time.

All of her senses switched over to alert once she knew that someone was out there; as she threw her robe on over her flannel pyjamas, she was struck by the old fear that it was the police, but she was a law-abiding citizen now.

The sight that confronted her when she opened it stunned her more than if it had been a pair of uniformed officers: Jack was waiting on the doorstep with one hand braced against the wall, his dark hair ruffled and matted, raindrops sliding down his cheeks like tears. He looked so boyish and hopeful as his eyes locked on hers; she opened her mouth to remind him that it was the middle of the night but before she could speak, his fingertips found the sides of he jaw and he kissed her with such force that the words died on her lips. She could taste the vodka on his tongue and she knew that he'd been drinking – not much but enough to give him the courage to come over – but all she could think about at that moment was how good it felt to be so close to him again.

It was still raining outside; she pulled him with her as she stepped back into the house and he kicked the door shut behind them. Shrugging off his wet coat, he wrapped her arms tighter around her, bringing her closer, but the dampness seeping from his clothes into hers as she pressed against him brought her crashing back to reality.

"Jack…" she murmured, breaking from him with one last kiss, her forehead dropping against his as they both caught their breaths. "I meant what I said at the courthouse. You can't just come over here and expect…"

"You want me to leave," he supplied for her, the disappointment in his eyes mirroring her own. He let out a humiliated laugh, scratching the back of his neck as he fumbled for a way to save face and preserve what was left of their relationship. "You know what? You're right – this was a bad idea. I'm sorry."

He wouldn't look at her as he stooped to pick up his coat, but before he could reach the door, she stopped him. "I want you to stay," she corrected him without letting go of his elbow, filling these words, and her eyes, with as much meaning as she could when he turned to face her. "But you and me…" she closed her eyes, licking her lips as she willed herself to be stronger than her own mother, even if it was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. "This… can't happen – not unless something's changed."

He nodded, swallowing hard, and she was almost afraid to ask the next question, in case it left her with no choice but to watch him walk out of her life, maybe for good. "Has it?"

She could see that he wanted more than anything to lie and give them the chance they were both longing for, but he couldn't, not when lies were what had brought them to that point in the first place. "I don't know," he confessed, anger and bitterness flashing through his eyes. "Maybe. I just know I couldn't leave it like that, not after..."

He trailed off with a guilty look, but she knew what he was thinking: it was the first time she'd ever been clear about what she wanted; about the fact that his love for her might not be unrequited. That was why she almost couldn't believe it when he shot her down in the parking garage. They were both so stubborn; she wondered if they would ever be able to find their way to middle ground.

"Last time I saw you, you said something about having coffee?" she reminded him with a tentative smile, deciding to take another chance on him now that he'd made the first move. "I can put some on now if you wanna at least wait until the rain stops."

It wasn't going back on her resolve, she tried to convince herself; she couldn't send him back out into the storm at this hour, not without giving him the opportunity to warm up first.

He smiled, a genuine smile, some of the light returning to his eyes. "Sounds great."

She fetched him a towel, and as he waited for her in the living room, he ran it over his face and neck, turning in a slow circle to familiarise himself with everything: the couch, the drapes, the rug. The framed pictures of her and Aaron on the mantel.

Watching him from the kitchen as she waited for the coffee maker to finish, she almost forgot what she was supposed to be doing when he tore his eyes away from them and peeled his soaked shirt over his head, rubbing down the tattoos she'd fantasised about touching.

She wasn't sure how he did it, but he managed to look adorable and unbearably sexy as he stood there half naked with his hair mussed and sticking up in places; she wanted to comb it with her fingers – for starters – but she forced herself to suppress this urge, along with the others that were creeping out from the deepest recesses of her mind.

"I can put that in the dryer," she told him, trying not the stare as she returned with two steaming mugs, setting them down on the coffee table and holding her hand out for his shirt.

He looked surprised at the offer, handing it over with a lopsided grin. "Thanks."

Seizing the excuse to escape from him for a few minutes, she rushed back out of the room. She wondered if he knew what he was doing to her, if it was all part of some plan to wear her down; either way, he wasn't making it easier for her to stick to her resolve.

As mush as she usually enjoyed the sight, it was a relief when he was fully clothed again and she didn't have to look at his bare torso anymore.

"You can sit down," she told him, pushing the comforter aside and gesturing to the empty space on the couch, wishing that she'd thought to clean up a little, but she was expecting a quiet night alone.

He let out a nervous chuckle and sank onto the cushion at one end, and she perched at a safe distance beside him, the awkward silence reminding her of a date, surprised how quickly her mind made that association.

"So how're things at the hospital?" she asked him to break the tension that lingered in the air between them, picking her mug up to solve the problem of what to do with her hands.

"Good," he assured her, taking a sip of his own drink. "How's life as a free woman?" He smiled, a warm smile that reached all the way to his eyes, and in spite of everything else that remained unresolved between them, she knew that he was happy for her.

"Great," she agreed, wondering if this was somehow the wrong answer when the conversation died, and he glanced away, putting his mug down on the table.

"Kate…" he began after a careful pause, forcing himself to meet her eyes, but she cut him off before he put her through the embarrassment of rejecting her again.

What even made him think that they could be friends when she couldn't stand to hear her talk about her life? Wasn't that why she'd refused his offer in the first place?

"It's okay, Jack – I get it," she told him, setting her own coffee down so hard that some of it splashed over the sides. "You can't be around him, and that's fine." But what she really wanted was to ask him to leave so that she could crawl into bed and nurse her broken heart in private.

"No, it's not," he argued in a soft voice, and some of her hope that they could work things out returned. "I wanna do the right thing, for you, and for Aaron, but I need you to cut me some slack. I'm not perfect, Kate – please don't expect me to be."

He'd already shown that he was willing to try to get past whatever was keeping them apart by crossing that threshold after he'd vowed not to; studying his earnest expression, seeing how tortured he was that he couldn't just give her what she wanted, she decided that that was enough for her for now. It had to be.

"Okay," she told him.

"Okay?" he repeated, looking stunned, as if anticipating a "but".

But there wasn't one, not this time. "Yeah, okay," she agreed, breaking into a grin that matched the one spreading over his face, and this time, when their lips met, she didn't hold back, pouring all of the pain and the longing of the past two years out into him.

She could feel her lungs protesting as he brought her half into his lap in an effort to get as close to her as possible, and she was sure that she would die if she didn't take a breath soon, but the only thing that mattered was that she was kissing him, and he was kissing her back, and she was finally happy and not just content.

She pulled away when her need for oxygen won out over her desire for him, meeting his eyes with a look that was half flirtatious, half shy. "The rain doesn't seem to be letting up – you wanna stay over, be here when he wakes up?"

She was afraid that he wouldn't understand her invitation – that she hadn't been clear enough in spelling out her intentions – but his smile told her that he did. "Yes," he agreed, stroking her cheek with his thumb as he drew her in for another kiss, softer and more delicate this time. "God yes."

They kissed for a while longer, then when he released her, she slid from the couch, pulling him up with her, and hand in hand they made their way towards the stairs, all notions of having coffee together forgotten.


End file.
